Buenos Aires, March 1 (NA) – The case of the disappearance of Loan Peña in Corrientes has held several unknowns for over a year and a half. Some of these, which were meant to be answered, have returned to the list of uncertainties in recent hours after the preliminary hearing to the trial, where it was not possible to confirm when and where the oral trial against the 17 accused will take place.
The Tribunal ordered that the trial begin on October 7, 2026, with two weekly sessions until December (with a possible extension). However, the plaintiff, the prosecution, and part of the defense argued that they had already waited too long to find out what happened and where Loan is.
«Another thing that didn't have time for debate was to propose where it will be held, because at the Law Faculty we can't because classes start in two weeks and it is not the right setting to be holding a trial,» explained the defender.
In turn, the defense explained the possibility of a judicial building in the city of Corrientes: «We have one, but it is also very small».
«Regardless of being prepared, it is not the place for debates due to its magnitude since it will be in person,» explained Ernesto 'Tito' González, lawyer for the accused Carlos Pérez and María Victoria Caillava, in dialogue with the Argentine News Agency (NA).
«The courtroom is like a two-room apartment, there is no way for all the defense lawyers to fit in there,» he added.
For the parties, said preliminary hearing ended up generating more doubts because there are other points that, according to González, were also not resolved: «There is the issue of the judicial inspection, the reconstruction of the fact, the issue of the telephone petitions, also the intervention of the prosecutors and the intervention of the plaintiff, that's why I believe the hearing was unproductive».
«It's sad because it is an important and very relevant case for society and, knowing that it was already on the threshold of trial, there is still nothing prepared. It is very complicated and it may not start until after the winter holidays,» the lawyer emphasized.
Regarding his clients, he informed that both are lodged at the Penitentiary Complex No. 3 in Salta and will come for the trial, so they need to be aware of the schedule. «They will come for the trial when the hearing is set, and we will address the issue of the time they can be there because, if it is too lengthy, one must take into account the logistics, the space where they will be, how they will be transferred, how they will be guarded, and so on,» he added.
«That's why I think that's where the indignation from the plaintiff, the prosecution, and some defenders comes from,» González expressed.
Faced with this scenario, González wondered: «How is it possible that, after months with the case already enabled for trial, this issue is still not defined?»
